A motor-vehicle transmission is normally situated at a short distance at least from the driver's seat and normally has an operating element which is moved in two directions to select any of a plurality of different gears. The driver's station is provided with a lever which can be moved in two orthogonal directions to select the desired gear, and a linkage having a pair of tension- and compression-transmitting bowden cables connects this lever to the transmission operating member. Movement of the lever in one of its two directions is transmitted to the operating member by pushing or pulling on the core of one of the cables, and in the other direction via the core of the other cable. The operating element of the transmission is typically a shaft that can be rotated about its axis and displaced along its axis to change transmission ratios and/or directions.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,211 of R. H. Hurlow the shift lever is connected below the vehicle floor via ball joints to the cores of the two bowden cables. Above the floor the lever is bent so that it can be twisted about its axis to move the cable that is connected under the floor to a radial outrigger. On the transmission is a linkage frame or housing which carries the transmission shaft which is provided with a lever to whose outer end is fixed one of the cables. A two-arm lever on this housing has one arm connected to the other cable and another arm engaged in a groove of the transmission shaft.
This system has the considerable disadvantage that it only works with a specific transmission lever, transmission, and type of cable. In addition it does not allow a user to set the shifter for a different feel or response; a notchy response cannot be adjusted to be a soft one or vice versa.